The wild animals of the desert honor me, the jackals and ostriches, because I put water in the desert and streams in the wilderness, to quench the thirst of my chosen people,

This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says – the one who formed you in the womb and helps you: “Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, ¹  whom I have chosen!

For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not recognize ¹  me.

I have not spoken in secret, in some hidden place. ¹  I did not tell Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain!’ ²  I am the Lord, the one who speaks honestly, who makes reliable announcements. ³ 

Look, I create the craftsman, who fans the coals into a fire and forges a weapon. ¹  I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

Whom are you worried about? Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully and not remember me or think about me? ¹  Because I have been silent for so long, ²  you are not afraid of me. ³ 

I was angry because of their sinful greed; I attacked them and angrily rejected them, ¹  yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. ² 

All of your people will be godly; ¹  they will possess the land permanently. I will plant them like a shoot; they will be the product of my labor, through whom I reveal my splendor. ² 

I looked, but there was no one to help; I was shocked because there was no one offering support. ¹  So my right arm accomplished deliverance; my raging anger drove me on. ² 

I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. ¹  They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands. ²  They do not know what their God requires of them. ³ 

So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped ¹  in the early days. See what I did to it ²  because of the wicked things my people Israel did.

But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ¹  I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride. I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ²  because you, the Lord’s flock, ³  will be carried ⁴  into exile.”

Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet, and I allowed you to do it. You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. ¹  Now I have become a constant laughingstock. Everyone ridicules me.

The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, ¹  when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What burdensome message ²  do you have from the Lord?’ Tell them, ‘You are the burden, ³  and I will cast you away. ⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵ 

So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, ¹  and I threw myself face down.

Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!” ¹ 

“‘But I said to their children ¹  in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, ²  nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple. As I watched, I noticed ¹  the glory of the Lord filling the Lord’s temple, and I threw myself face down.

I, Daniel, was exhausted ¹  and sick for days. Then I got up and again carried out the king’s business. But I was astonished at the vision, and there was no one to explain it.

I alone was left to see this great vision. My strength drained from ¹  me, and my vigor disappeared; ²  I was without energy. ³